Vince's Ministry of Waste: Cable's Business Department is exposed as Whitehall's most profligate spender

Wasteful: Vince Cable's Business Department is paying higher prices for basic services than other departments, according to new research

One of his main roles in Government is to help companies cut red tape and become more efficient.

But last night Vince Cable’s Business Department was unmasked as the most wasteful in Whitehall.

It pays well over the odds for basic office supplies such as paper, and more than twice as much as other ministries for gas and electricity.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance, which compiled the research, said Mr Cable could not be trusted to help businesses when he had failed to mind his own shop.

The study found that money was being wasted all across Whitehall because some ministries are spending far more than others on paper and energy. It said millions of pounds could be saved if the lowest prices were paid.

A Coalition-commissioned study by retail tycoon Sir Philip Green came to an even more dramatic conclusion two years ago.

He said £20billion could be saved if ministries simply spent more efficiently but the latest research suggests little has changed.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is by far the most profligate ministry, paying the most per standard box of A4 paper at £12.43 per 2,500 sheets. This is £3.50 more than is paid by the best performing ministry, the Department of Health.

Mr Cable’s department – known as BIS – also paid the most for its electricity and gas: an average of £110 a megawatt hour. This is three times the amount paid by the Ministry of Defence, which spent just £34 a megawatt hour.

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Matthew Sinclair of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘The Department for Business can’t even get a decent deal on basics like paper and energy, so how can we trust them to spend the much larger sums they are supposed to be using to support British business efficiently?

‘Companies are constantly told they should be grateful for getting their own money back in grants and subsidies.

‘This is further evidence companies can spend the money better themselves, instead of paying high taxes just so a load of their cash can be squandered by Vince Cable.’

The most frugal and the most wasteful departments in Whitehall

The majority of departments paid at least £2 more per box of A4 than the Department of Health, which at the time of the study was led by Andrew Lansley. Three ministries – Transport, Education and the Home Office – all paid over £50 a megawatt hour more for their energy than Defence.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance said ministers at the worst departments should urge their officials to learn from those who have secured better value. ‘Taxpayers will be astounded at the discrepancies that remain between government departments in the cost of these basics,’ Mr Sinclair added.

‘Those running departments need to be able to show that they can keep costs down on smaller items of expenditure if people are to have faith that they can secure the best deals when it comes to multi-million pound projects.

'It is especially dispiriting that BIS – a department which ought to be championing the cause of efficiency and cutting out waste – comes out so badly in the latest research.

‘Ministers have been talking for two years about making central procurement more efficient and whilst some welcome progress has been made, it is now clear that serious work remains to be done if best value is to be secured for taxpayers.’

The pressure group looked at prices paid in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is from the start of October to the end of December. The statistics were taken from ‘quarterly data summaries’ produced by each department.

The average amount spent on a box of paper was £11.24 – up from £11.05 in the third quarter. The average amount spent on energy was £70.17 a megawatt hour – down from £72.07 in the third quarter.

Last night a spokesman for the Department for Business said it believed energy use was lower than that quoted in the alliance report – although he accepted the cost of paper was too high.

‘The Department takes its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and energy usage very seriously,’ he added.

‘We have also taken a number of measures in recent months to lower our energy usage including closing some of our buildings.

‘Thanks to the Government’s transparency agenda, we know how much is being spent on paper – and it is sometimes too much. That’s why we’re in the process of moving to a new cross-government deal for buying stationery to reduce costs.’

In last week’s reshuffle, David Cameron moved former Tory deputy chairman Michael Fallon into Mr Cable’s department to push him to do more to promote business.

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Vince's Ministry of Waste: Cable's Business Department is exposed as Whitehall's most profligate spender